Informe El medio ambiente en Europa: Estado y perspectivas 2020

PART 2
10.4.2
Cross-cutting challenges
Although humans and the environment
are generally exposed to mixtures of
chemicals, the current approach to risk
assessment in chemicals legislation is
generally based on single substances.
Understanding of the risks of exposure
to mixtures is growing, and efforts
have been made to review available
methodologies for risk assessment
of mixtures (Bopp et al., 2015, 2016).
EFSA has prepared guidance on
harmonised methodologies for human
and animal health and ecological risk
assessment of combined exposure
to multiple chemicals (EFSA Scientific
Committee et al., 2019). The HBM4EU
project will gather and produce data on
actual human exposure to mixtures of
chemicals as a basis for risk assessment.
Regulating groups of chemicals
rather than single substances is
being considered by the European
Commission and the European
Chemicals Agency (ECHA) as a means
of speeding up risk assessment, hazard
assessment and risk management
(ECHA, 2018a, 2018b). Recent
examples include the restriction
of four phthalates (EU, 2018a) and
the proposal to have a PFAS group
limit in EU drinking water (European
Parliament, 2018). Another argument
for regulating groups of substances
is avoiding regrettable substitutions,
whereby a banned hazardous chemical
is replaced by a similar chemical
subsequently found to be harmful. In
implementing the REACH legislation,
ECHA now pays increasing attention
to the structural similarity between
substances and has also started to
consider substances in groups to avoid
regrettable substitutions (ECHA, 2018d).
Legacy chemicals that are now
strictly regulated but that persist and
accumulate in the environment, such as
PCBs and heavy metals, remain an issue
for both ecosystems and human health.
Designing safer chemicals
and products for circular use
would support the transition
to a circular economy and a
non-toxic environment.
Looking ahead, this raises concerns
regarding substances currently in
use or produced that are persistent,
accumulating or mobile. As knowledge
on hazards increases, some of these
substances are likely to be found to
be toxic after they have already been
released into the environment. As
cleaning up is often not feasible or
too costly, this calls for a preventive
regulatory focus on such substances.
The 7th EAP calls for safety concerns
related to endocrine disruptors
to be effectively addressed in EU
legislation by 2020 (EU, 2013). In
response, the EU published scientific
criteria for the identification of active
substances in pesticides (EC, 2018b)
and biocides (EU, 2017) that have
endocrine‐disrupting properties. The
EU is investing in research on endocrine
disruptors to produce evidence and
develop methods to support decisionmaking.
The Commission will also
launch a comprehensive screening of
the legislation applicable to endocrine
disruptors, which will include a public
consultation (EC, 2018b).
In the 7th EAP, it was anticipated that
a non-toxic environment strategy
would be developed by 2018, which
was intended to address some of these
cross-cutting challenges. A future
initiative on sound management of
chemicals and waste would need
to link to the broader international
policy agenda, including the strategic
approach to international chemicals
management and the SDGs.
10.4.3
Looking ahead to a non-toxic,
circular economy
The transition to a non-toxic
environment will require different
approaches to managing hazardous
chemicals in products and in the
environment. The systematic
application of the precautionary
principle, a stronger focus on
preventing emissions, reducing the use
of hazardous chemicals in products and
regulating groups of substances could
all effectively reduce exposure while
keeping up with the rapid introduction
of new chemicals (EEA, 2018a; EC,
2019c). Establishing inventories of
chemicals of concern in products may
enable more frequent enforcement and
lead to increased levels of compliance
(ECHA, 2018c). Early warning systems
to detect mixtures of emerging
contaminants in air, water and sensitive
biota close to emission points could
support faster action. An important
future task is devising better controls
to prevent banned substances from
entering Europe as chemicals or in
manufactured products (EC, 2019b)
At the same time, Europe aims to
develop into a circular economy
that maximises the value and use of
products and materials through reuse,
repair, refurbishment and recycling
(Chapter 9). Moving towards a circular
economy will therefore require a
high level of traceability and a risk
management approach that deals
with legacy substances and long-term
risks (Pivnenko and Fruergaard, 2016;
EEB, 2017). Risk assessment needs
to consider not only the first life of a
product but also all potential future
lives and hence different exposure
scenarios from those considered in a
linear economy. One of the key areas
for action will be to ensure the safe
disposal of toxic substances at the end
of the product’s life cycle. Efforts to
clean up material flows can enhance the
long‐term potential for circularity.
250 SOER 2020/Chemical pollution